An up-and-coming manga artist died before releasing his debut

Summary

Denji Yutai won the Dengeki Grand Prize, but tragically died before his debut manga could be published.
Yutai's work, titled Physics of Fairies, will still be published after consultation with his family.
Toshimichi Uzuo, an artist and friend of Yutai, shared how Yutai inspired their own writing careers.

Quick links

- A friend from the past speaks

An up-and-coming new mangaka died last week before their debut was scheduled to be released next year. the new artist's pen name was Denji Yutai, which is the only name shared at this point. In the fall of 2024, he became the winner of the Dengeki Grand Prize, an award for manga. Now he will not have the opportunity to see his work formally published.

The news came via the X (formerly Twitter) account of Dengeki Bunko, the organization behind the award. They released the announcement on December 27, 2024, stating that the winner of this year's award had died. In a statement, Dengeki Bunko stated that they will still publish the work Yutai has available in a way that respects his death and what was known of his wishes.

Top 6 romance manga debuting in 2024, ranked

Some excellent romance manga debuted in 2024, and for fans of the genre and newcomers alike, these are the best of them all.

Denji Yutai's only work

Award-winning debut

The Dengeki Grand Prize, or Dengeki Novel Award, is an award given to long and short stories sponsored by manga giant KADOKAWA. The prize has been awarded since 1994, and Denji Yutai (whose pseudonym translates to “Electromagnetic Spirit”) was the 31st recipient. There were 3,819 entries for the 2024 prize, and Yutai's work titled 『妖精の移动学―Physics of the Phantom Phenomenon―』(Fairy Physics: The Physics of the Phantom Phenomenon) became the winner.

The manga world thus set its sights on Yutai, who was scheduled to begin officially publishing his works in 2025. Unfortunately, the new artist died on December 12, 2024 from a previously undisclosed illness. Fairy Physics: The Physics of the Phantom Phenomenon it was intended to be published as part of winning the Dengeki Grand Prize, and will still be in consultation with Yutai's family, who gave permission for the work to still be published as planned.

Regarding Yutai's sudden death, Dengeki Bunko wrote (as quoted by liveoor News, translated from Japanese),

Denji Yutai passed away suddenly due to illness last Thursday, December 12, 2024.

All of us involved in the Dengeki Grand Prize and the editorial department of Dengeki Media Works are stunned and deeply saddened by this sudden news. We are deeply saddened by his sudden passing just before his debut.

MangaPlus reveals its top 10 most read chapters of 2024

MangaPlus, a huge manga library, released this year's most read chapters.

Inspiration for others

A friend from the past speaks

Some other light novel and manga artists have since posted about the tragedy of Yutai's death before he could publish his work. Among them is Toshimichi Uzuo, a previous Dengeki Grand Prize winner who has written several other stories. Uzuo wrote that they were friends with Yutai, and while they didn't share the details of what they were working on together, they had been friends for a long time.

Uzou also shared that Yutai wanted to be a light novel writer for many years, even before Uzuo started writing anything himself. It wasn't until Yutai convinced Uzuo to try writing as well that Uzuo even tried. Inspired by Yutai, Uzuo submitted their first work to the Dengeki Grand Prix and fortunately managed to win, even though it was their first attempt. According to Livedoor News, regarding Yutai's proposal to start writing, Uzuo said (translated from Japanese): “Looking back on it now, it was a turning point in my life.

The two became more distant in later years, but Uzuo stated that they did not deny that they were friends in their youth. Now that Yutai has died, Uzuo talks more about him and their relationship, revealing that they believed Yutai was always the more talented writer. They also said that if they continue their light novel writing careers, they will continue to remind everyone else what Denji Yutai was able to contribute in his short time as a writer and not let the world forget it. Yutai's achievement before his death.